Mary, Did You Know? is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

A couple of ingredients and some jars later, I had pretty gifts ready to go.  I did mine in Lavender scent and added some drops of lilac coloring to tint the sugar.  Both the essential oil and coloring I found at Michaels in the soap making section.

I purchased round Avery labels at Staples and used Avery’s online templates to create a label for the top.  Doesn’t get any easier than that!

I simply packaged them using tissue paper and ribbon.

I also wanted to send in some treats for my son’s grade 1 class.  All I needed for this one was some baggies, some Smarties and a free treat bag topper printable!  This adorable printable was found here.  She also has a few other really cute ones to choose from, you’ll need to scroll to the bottom of her post to see them all.

I originally wanted to send in these reindeer poop ones for the kids but after my husband read the back he totally vetoed it for grade 1′s (such a party pooper he is….just kidding!)  This free printable was found here.

Totally cracks me up!  My husband’s going to take them to his work to hand out instead :)

Hope you all are enjoying the holidays!

Homemade Sugar Scrub & Fun Treat Bag Topper Printables is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Welcome, welcome, welcome and Merry Christmas to everyone!  Boy what a week I had last week, all three kids were sick with a flu/cold combo at once.  It wasn’t pretty.  I think I have two kids that can go back to school tomorrow for their last week before holidays but one will be home for another couple of days for sure.  Hope he gets better soon since I have my in-laws coming on Tuesday for Christmas and I definitely don’t want them to get sick that is for sure.

Last week the Eggnog Latte Cupcakes turned out so well.  They were easy to make although the frosting part took a little while (as you can see my technique still needs some work!).  They were so delicious that I decided to make them again today for a different teacher’s luncheon tomorrow.

Here’s what we’ll be eating this week:

Monday:  BLT Burritos

Tuesday:  Make-Ahead Unstuffed Shells (family favorite) served with spinach salad and bread machine garlic bread.  I’ll also be attending a ladies function in the evening and will be bringing Peppermint Popcorn Bark.

Wednesday:  Baked Teriyaki Chicken (my all time favorite dish!) served with Shredded Potato Casserole and broccoli

Thursday:  Slow Cooker Honey Glazed Ham served with Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes & Carrots

Friday:  Fondue party!

Saturday:  Slow Cooker Beef Stew (using up fondue leftovers) before we go to the Christmas Eve service at church.  Afterwards we’ll enjoy some Brown Sugar Brie and Hot Pizza Dip.

Sunday:  For breakfast we’ll have my father in-laws favorite Wake Up Casserole.  Our Christmas dinner includes:  Turkey with bacon-infused gravy, Old-Fashion Dressing in the slow cooker, Make Ahead Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Vegetable Casserole, Golden Honey Pan Rolls (bread machine) and Candy Cane Cheesecake for dessert

Whew, what a busy week it’s going to be!

WHAT’S ON YOUR MENU THIS WEEK?

Menu Plan Guidelines, banner selections and recipe helpers are here.

More family favorite recipes here.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Menu Plan Monday ~ Dec 19/11 Christmas Edition! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

This could be a long one so how about I start by offering you two of my favorite things.  A cup of delicious Earl Grey Vanilla tea (so good!) in my fancy Regis and Kelly mug (I saw the show LIVE in October!).  Sit back and relax and off we go :)

This morning we woke up to a glorious hoar frost (I live in Alberta, Canada).  It’s absolutely stunning to see.  All the trees glistening in the beautiful sunshine.  Gosh it never gets old to me.

closer

and closer

When you first come to my door you’ll be greeted by my new sparkly wreath (are you sensing my love for the sparkly yet?).  I hung it up using the coolest product.  The Zip ‘n Hang.  Flexible lines go over the corners of your door and hold up to 20 lbs with the wreath hook attachment.  No hassles closing the door makes me a happy girl :)

As you enter you’ll see one of my favorite Christmas decorations…my stuffed snowman hanging on the banister railing.  He’s so cute!

Are you getting hungry?  Perhaps you’d like a snack?  These Mini Cherry Cheesecakes are to die for.  And if you know I’m making it, you know it’s got to be easy :)

I purged so many Christmas decorations this year and really tried to only keep my absolute favorite things.  One of those is our village scene which we absolutely love when it’s all lit up.

Time for another treat.  How about some yummy Butter Tarts?

Whenever I visit someone’s home at Christmas I always gravitate to the Christmas tree to look at their ornaments.  Each tree is so unique and tells a story all by itself.  It fascinates me.  I like to call our tree a Hallmark tree because we buy the kids a new ornament each year and they are taking over the tree!  (my kids are 14.5, 12 and 6).  I still get to sneak a few of my homemade ornaments on though in amongst all the others.

We’ve used the same popcorn strands on our tree for years.  We just seal them up real good and bring them out year after year.

And our newest ornament from our trip to Siesta Key, Florida this year:

Definitely time for another munchie.  This time I’ll serve up some “can’t eat just one” Chocolate Pretzel Bites:

Our lovely angel tree topper was made for us by my mother in law.

Each year I purchase a couple of things that really say Christmas to me.  It starts with these awesome smelling cinnamon scented pinecones from Walmart.  I love the way they smell up the whole house :)

The other is a Poinsetta that I get through a school fundraiser.  Can you believe that this Poinsetta only cost me $20.00, it’s huge!

Oh speaking of plants, I forgot to show you what my hubbie picked up for outside our house this year.

Because nothing says Christmas like a light up palm tree :)

Totally cracks me up!

My youngest son got the Star Wars count down calendar this year and thinks it’s the best thing going!  What tour of homes would be complete without seeing this…lol.

The rest of us however enjoy lighting our advent candle ring each night to count down the days (this picture was taken last year).  I purchased it a year ago from Ann Voskamp of A Holy Experience.  Her teenage son makes them (although I’m not sure if he still does).  So peaceful.

Finally I want to share my nativity scene with you because after all Jesus is the reason for the season!

Well I think it must be time for me to go.  I’m getting sad doggy eyes from my sweet girl who is waiting patiently to play.

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit!!!

I hope you and your family have a beautiful and delightful Christmas!!

Linking up to:

2011 Christmas Home Tours ~ @ The Inspired Room

2011 Christmas Tour of Homes ~ @ Nesting Place

Kelly’s Korner

2011 Christmas Home Tour is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

image: shutterstock

I’ve never really had a dedicated holiday planner before.  I kind of had bits and pieces of information in a number of locations but this year I decided to finally put it all together.  I’ve now got one binder dedicated to Christmas planning and am working on consolidating (gosh how I love that word!) everything into it.  Now if I’m looking for a favorite holiday recipe to make, a craft I want to try, my gift list, my daily advent devotionals or even my holiday menu planner, I can just pull out my handy dandy binder and look it up easy peasy.

Of course I’m not going to lie I was totally enticed by all the free printables floating around blogland right now.  Seriously I have a printables folder on my computer that is loaded with great stuff.  Talk about an addiction!  So today I thought I’d share with you some of the best free printables I’ve found for creating a Christmas/holiday planner to help you stay organized over the season.  And believe me there are way to many to list them all so I’m going to have to put a limit on it or I’d be here all night!  All I can say is I hope you have a lot of ink on hand :)  Creating printables is a lot of hard work so I just really want to thank each of the designers here for sharing these for free.  So so awesome!!  Click on the links underneath the pictures below to download.

First let me show you my binder cover.  I purchased a white binder with the protective sleeve on the front so all I had to do was slide my printable cover page right into it.  How cute is this:

and it comes with a cute matching spine label:

I downloaded this planner cover and spine set at a site called Organized Christmas and they have two other sets of covers to choose from as well along with a number of free printable pages for the inside of your planner as well.  A fantastic resource!

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This adorable download from Eighteen25 is so fun and can be used in multiple ways:

image: eighteen25

Click here to download

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Another terrific resource for free printable Christmas planning pages and lists is Christmas Your Way.  Mandi even offers a free ebook with plenty of Christmas planning assistance.

image: lifeyourway

Click here to download

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Tip Junkie also offers a free Christmas Planner ebook that includes both helpful tips and planning worksheets.

image: tipjunkie

Click here to download

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 Next up visit the Paper Crafting Obsession site for some fun planning and binder divider pages.

image: paper crafting obsession

Click here to download

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Another site offering plenty of helpful planner pages for free download is Desiring Virtue.

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Here is another collection for you to check out.  These ones are from the lovely site Lovely Little Snippets.

image: lovely little snippets

Click here to download

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Lastly how about adding a free Holiday Activity and Planning Guide to your planner to help you stay on track this season.  This calendar offers daily suggestions for tasks and events to do throughout the month of December.

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Whew, I told you there were many!  I hope you enjoy them all as much as I do.  I know I’m leaving many out and I apologize for that.  I just had to narrow the list down somehow so I concentrated on posts with a collection of holiday planning printables.  However what I’m going to do is add a linky list to this post so you can add links to your favorite Christmas printables.  In other words please feed my addiction…lol! 

I’d like to keep this list to FREE CHRISTMAS printables only but it can be for anything Christmas related (tags, gifts, etc) as long as it includes a free printable for readers to print out.

Thanks everyone and happy printing!!!

Free Christmas Planner Printables + more! is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Christmas is only 6 weeks away. Are you feeling overwhelmed already with everything that you’ve got to get done?

If so, there are plenty of detailed organizers and planners out there to help you break everything down into manageable chunks and to stay on track. Laura has referenced some of the best here, but this article is about an alternative strategy – one I’ve been enjoying for the past few years.

It works on the 80-20 Pareto principle: 80% of your family’s Christmas enjoyment probably comes from 20% of your efforts.

You might have heard of this rule before. I try to use it to focus on the ‘important stuff’ when I’m working but a few years ago I decided to try it when planning for Christmas too.

It was like a breath of fresh air. A weight was lifted.

In a nutshell you cross off 80% of the tasks on your Christmas checklist.

Whether your Christmas organization plan is written down somewhere or buzzing around in your head, it will probably comprise of tasks in the following areas: Cards & Gifts, Menu Planning & Baking and Home Décor & Cleaning.

Now it’s best to keep a few tasks in each category to ensure your Christmas is balanced, but basically for every 5 tasks or every 5 people within a task, choose the most important one and cross out the other 4.

Brutal isn’t it? But it can be done with the benefits of either slashing your $$$ spend and/or your time spend during this pre-Christmas season without losing any of the enjoyment. Here are some ideas of what I mean:

Cards

Cut down the number of cards you send by 80%. Just send cards to people who live far away. Explain your new strategy to friends and family you see regularly so that they don’t feel forgotten. They will probably follow your lead!

Cut down the number of personal notes and Christmas letters you send with cards by 80%. If your cards are pre-printed with your name, just leave it at that other than for special friends and family members that you don’t see very often.

Alternatively avoid the whole Christmas card sending thing altogether. Set up a free blog and post your Christmas wishes, news and family photos there. Then send an explanatory e-mail to your Christmas card list with the blog’s link.

Photo credit: WordRidden.

Gifts

Cross off all the adults from your gift list (or just leave those that really matter). Explain to friends and family that you would like to keep this Christmas as ‘gifts for kids only’. Most will be more than happy and who couldn’t do with spending a bit less this year?

If you can’t bear for the adults in your life to be gift-less, consider making them something as a token gesture rather than wasting money on something they don’t want and don’t need. Think baked goods, jams, pickles, chutneys, photo collages or my favorite, homemade vouchers. If you can get your kids involved, all the better. Then the task is not just another chore, but fun family time.

If you don’t have the time or inclination to bake or be crafty, consider charitable gifts that will change lives. Sites like GoodGifts.org allow you to buy a gift of things like a bike for a midwife in a developing country, a malaria net for a whole family or 50 bowls of rice for hungry children in Africa. You buy the gift in the name of your recipient and they receive a card telling them about the good deed. This is a quick and simple task to perform online.

Buy your remaining gifts online. You will save 80% of the time you would otherwise spend travelling to the shopping mall and standing in queues. You will probably buy less too.

Remember the fewer gifts you buy, the less you spend, the less time you spend shopping, the less time you spend wrapping and the less time you spend organizing storage for all the new ‘stuff’ after Christmas.

Photo credit: Mulad.

Menu Planning & Baking

Cross off 80% of those special meals you hosted last year. Inviting friends and family for drinks and nibbles is perfectly acceptable.

Say no to hosting big parties. Invite only 20% off the guests from last year and hold a more intimate affair.

Cross off 80% of the brunches, starters, side dishes and extras you had last Christmas. No-one will go hungry and you’ll have fewer leftovers to label and store.

Cut down your holiday baking to 20% of what you did last year. Ask your family what they can’t do without (perhaps one item per family member) and stop there. Or only cook what you enjoy – not those fiddly recipes that take hours and make a right mess.

Spend less time in the kitchen and more with your family.

Photo credit: jetalone.

Home Décor & Cleaning

Only decorate the main living room in your home this year. Forget about having decorations everywhere, especially outside. Get the tree and one box of decorations out and let the kids test out their creativity. Remember it has to be fun, not perfect.

Don’t buy decorations if yours are in need of replacement. Make them with your kids. There are plenty of ideas online and again you are turning a chore into quality time.

Avoid any home improvement type tasks at this time of year. Guests should be coming to see you, not your house. Share out the remaining mundane cleaning duties. YOU don’t have to do it all. Aim for 20% of what you did last year by assigning talks to other family members.

Photo credit: alancleaver_2000.

Enjoy A Stress Free Run Up To The Holidays

Christmas is not about becoming stressed out or going into debt to buy presents or decorations or to entertain friends and family. Get your red pen out and start crossing off those tasks. Even if you can’t make the 80% cut, try something. As the weight lifts the Christmas cheer will come rolling in!

Chloe Wilson shares simple steps that work when organizing your home on her blog Get Set Organize. She is searching for an easier way to make organizing tasks fit into a daily routine, otherwise filled with work and family life. If you have any ideas, she would love to hear them!

Cut Down On Christmas Organization By 80% is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

image credit: shutterstock

My list of awesome holiday resources that I want to share with you has been piling up.  Well you know how much I love piles (blech) so it’s time I do something about that and share these with you (especially with Christmas less than two months away!).  There is quite a variety here and I’m sure many more will be coming out as the holidays draw closer.  However these are the ones I recommend to you today to help you get organized (can you say checklists and printables galore!) for the holidays in order to keep your sanity in tact and the true meaning of the holiday front and center.  It’s so easy to get carried away and overwhelmed with it all isn’t it?  I do hope you find these resources helpful!

Resources to help you get organized for the holidays:

1.  First up is an ebook published by Erin, the $5 Dinner Mom.  In this ebook you’ll find information on:

·         How much should you budget for your holiday meal
·         What things must you include and what can you leave out
·         Tips to outsmart the grocery stores and get the most value for your coupons
·         The perfect plan to have everything cooked using only one oven
·         And how to turn your leftovers into more amazing meals the next day

Plus there are 30 simple recipes, from side dish to main dish, dessert to appetizer, that will not disappoint your guests. And that won’t drain your budget either.  And some other FREEBIES bonus downloads too!  Click on the link below to purchase and be sure to use the code THANKS to receive 50% off the $3.99 price tag.

2.  Next is a workshop I shared about yesterday but definitely wanted to include here because I think Aby from Simplify 101 is fabulous as are her online workshops.  This month Aby is ready to help YOU get ready for an organized holiday in her Get Organized for the Holidays workshop.  It started yesterday but it’s not too late to sign up.  This online workshop is the ultimate holiday planning workshop. You’ll create a holiday planning binder loaded with holiday planning forms, checklists, and best of all, a customized holiday plan that focuses on what’s most important to you and your family. Then, learn how to weed-out and simplify your less meaningful holiday tasks, freeing-up time to truly enjoy and savor those activities that make the holidays most special to you. Plus, get simple tips and ideas to implement your plan so you stay energized and joyful all season long!  Click on the button below for more details and to register.

3.  The lovely Jennifer from List Plan It has once again started up her site 100 Days to Christmas and to go along with it an ebook by the same title.  This ebook offers a daily dose of inspiration and motivation to help get you through the busy holiday season. This ebook journey began on September 16,and leads you step-by-step and day-by-day toward a peaceful and meaningful holiday season. Click on the button below to pick it up today for only $4.99 and start planning for the holidays now!

4.   Is your Christmas a time of stressing rather than blessing? Not this year! It is possible to have a fun, relaxing and organized season that focuses on Christ.   Grab a copy of Karen Patterson Ehman & LeAnn Rice ‘s new e-book Untangling Christmas: Your Go-To Guide for a Hassle-Free Holiday. Simple and delicious recipes, doable decorating ideas, creative gifts, outreach suggestions and how to craft a Christmas planner to organize it all!  Available for $5.99.  Order before November 15th and you’ll receive a delicious Thanksgiving menu along with all the recipes FREE as a special gift.

5.   This one is a FREE ebook published by Jessica from Life as Mom called A Simpler Season.  This quick read includes Christmas ideas, recipes, and planning pages to help you create a custom-made Christmas plan for your family so you can breathe deeply and enjoy the season.

6.  Finally how about a FREE webinar?  On November 9 at 2:00 pm EST, professional organizers Jennifer Ford Berry and Susan Fay West are hosting “Have an Organized Holiday Season”, a free live webinar designed to remove the chaos of the holidays and put the season into prespective.  Jennifer and Susan will be answering attendees’ specific questions on organizing for the holidays, on topics that range from planning and maintaining a gift-buying budget to keeping track of holiday leftovers in the fridge.

If you found this post helpful please consider sharing it via my social media buttons below in addition to clicking on this here Pin It button.  Thanks everyone!!

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6 Holiday Resources to Help You Keep Your Sanity this Season is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Holiday Housekeeping Tips is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

image courtesy of BasketMaker

Planning for the holidays is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie

Let’s recap:

* Gather your supplies

* Consolidate supplies (discard the unused or unwanted items and organize the remaining)

* Containerize supplies

Won’t take you any time at all :)

Here are some examples of storage containers designed specifically for the purpose of creating a gift wrap station.  Prices vary.

Gift Wrap Station ~ great for the closet

Gift Wrap Organizer ~ great for the closet

Gift Wrap Cart

Gift Wrap Organizer ~ great for the closet

Customized Gift Wrap Center ~ great for under bed storage

Vertical Gift Wrap Center ~ this is what I use for my Christmas rolls

Gift Wrap Storage Bag ~ also great for under bed storage

Don’t forget to take a look around your house to see what could be re-purposed.  Love this idea for converting an old change table.  Instructions here.

I also think those plastic drawers on wheels would work great for this purpose as well.   This fabulous gift wrapping post over at Serene Journey shows you a great example of what I mean.

Also Aby over at Creative Organizing provides some great tips on gift wrap storage as well.

Now go get gathering, consolidating and containerizing.  Sorry couldn’t help myself, I just had to say those words again.  They make me happy.  Try it, say them out loud with me.

Gather. Consolidate. Containerize.

Ahh, now wasn’t that fun…I can see you smiling :)

Gift Wrap Stations is a post from: I'm an Organizing Junkie